Dirty Words

I had a call from my Dad who is in Florida for the winter. Down there in the sunshine he isn't dealing with Ohio dirt and mud this month like I am. He told me he's reading my novel, KAIROS. He even gave a copy to two of his friends. Also, he likes my blog, especially the part about my dog.

Before we hung up he told me he'd gotten to the part of KAIROS, where Mel Martin makes a word-play on the old saying, "Make hay while the sun shines." Mel was hauling manure and said to Angie, "Haul s _ _ _ till the barn's clean." My dad said he "didn't know I talked like that." And I told him I didn't. But Mel does-Mel Martin, that is.

Just so everyone's clear on this--my farmer character, Mel Martin, has many, many wonderful qualities, but he isn't an exact copy of my dad, Mel Horst. Mel Horst would never, ever, say something like that! Back in 1998, when I started writing KAIROS, my dad went by the name Melvin. More recently his Florida name, Mel, began to stick. Martin is the last name of my maternal grandpa whom I admired greatly. So my book character's name is a loose combination of two farmers I love dearly. (Grandpa Martin wouldn't "talk like that" either!)

Another difference between my dad, Mel, and Mel Martin is that my dad isn't a literary type who reads Whitman and Gary Snyder and other writers mentioned in my story. My dad, Mel, went to a one-room grade school and never got extra help with reading skills. Maybe he had a learning disability, or maybe he just likes conversation better. His family cared more about farm work than school, anyway. They were great storytellers, though. (In that way Mel Martin and Mel Horst are alike).

The point isn't to tell you about my dad's short-comings. The point is, I'm so impressed that he's actually reading my book! I've also heard from both my sisters and several friends who read my book, too. (I can't tell you how often I've met writers who tell me their family members never read or comment on their writing).

I was mulling over my transgressions yesterday as I took another long walk. It was a beautiful day and I wanted to stay outside longer so I walked back the lane to see Esther Miller, my neighbor. Esther, Reuben and Edna are Amish and they have a 120 acre farm. I garden with Esther and vicariously enjoy farm life without having any of the responsibilities or financial risks. When I got near the barn I heard piteous bleating of lambs and realized lambing season has begun already! They have ten and more on the way. Esther came out and we checked out the situation. Two lambs from a set of triplets had gotten into a lean-to. The door was too small for the mama to come in. Esther shooed them out but they just ran into the barn. Mama was in the pasture so they were still crying.

We talked for awhile longer. Esther said she's getting rid of three of her geese. She wants to keep only two geese and one gander. Someone told her is she has just two, the geese will be more likely to hatch out their eggs. Esther wanted me to stay a bit because Edna was walking home from school and would be disappointed if she didn't get to see me. We decided to walk partway to meet her. We walked down a cow path past a fabulous old Catalpa tree, dodging mud puddles and cow s_ _ _. I thought about the time I heard Edna say "the S word" as naturally as if she was saying "manure." Maybe in Pennsylvania Dutch one word is as good as the other, I don't know.

My dad is a little worried they won't put my book in the church library because it has a dirty word in it. I guess all I can say to him is that I'm still the same girl I always was--a little rebellious and naughty. But I didn't really say a swear word, did I? It was just "dirty." One of my friends who writes for a religous press says her publisher wouldn't have let the word stay. My editor mentioned it, but let Mel keep his barnyard talk.

My storybook character, Mel Martin, was just trying to shock his girlfriend, Angie. Mel Martin and I both got what we wanted--shock value. But now I have to ask myself--was it worth it to bother the real Mel this way? I don't know. Yes, the "barnyard of life" is full of this stuff I wrote about. When you put it where it belongs--on the fields--it turns into fertilizer. That's what Mel Martin said in the story. But let's hope in the future, Mel Horst's daughter the author, will clean up her language so her books aren't banned by the church librarians.